Raw Tomato, Macadamia Cheese & Caramelized Onion Tart

I catered a lunch to be filmed for InStyle Magazine TV yesterday. As I brought out dessert, the film crew turned the camera on me and the interviewer asked me about the dishes I created. I froze and barely whispered what they were - LOL. It's for Korean TV, so hopefully I'll be dubbed.
I made an all-raw lunch of Zucchini with Walnut Basil Pesto; Heirloom Tomato & Herb Salad; Raw Tomato, Macadamia Cheese & Caramelized Onion Tarts; and Blueberry Cobbler with Cashew Whipped Cream. Unfortunately, I only had a chance to take a photo of the Tarts.
[caption id="attachment_4191" align="aligncenter" width="461" ...

Giveaway: Big Fat Organic Coconut Chips!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!
Big fat coconut chips! I love 'em because they're so versatile. I can use them in an impromptu trail mix with nuts and goji berries (shreds and flakes are too small to grab by the handful); add them on top of a yummy dessert like coconut cream pie to make it look STUNNING; or pulse them down finer, if I need smaller flakes or even coconut flour in a jiffy.
One of my fave quickie desserts is to melt a couple tablespoons of coconut oil, stir in cacao, maca, mesquite and lucuma powder until ...

Wild Foraging in NJ

Hey guys! Here is my photo album of some of the wonderful wild plant foods you can find locally in the NY/NJ area. These were taken during a foraging tour with Wildman Steve Brill in Central Park in early April. I highly recommend going foraging with someone who knows there stuff just to be sure you don't pick something poisonous.
The availability changes seasonally so foraging every week can produce new and different edibles. Just make sure you select an area away from traffic and that is not treated with pesticides. Ever since I took the class, I can't walk outside ...

Classic Indian Sweet – Revisited & Raw

I still remember the sweet shops when I lived in India for a month studying Ashtanga - neat rows of tantalizing bite-size treats. The shop owners used to laugh at my pronunciation when I placed an order, but I didn’t care. It was worth the humiliation. Washed down with cool coconut water from a freshly cut coco, it was the perfect end to a hard day of yoga and lounging around steamy Mysore.
[caption id="attachment_3718" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=""Rows of Indian Sweets!""][/caption]
For the longest time, I thought about recreating burfi (also spelled ‘barfi’ but that sounds so unappetizing - lol) into a ...

Cloves Cinnamon Cacao – Wow!

I've always heard people proclaim that chocolate is high on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale but I could never really find the proof - until now. I found this study from the USDA that compares the ORAC values of food. The top five per 100 grams in descending order are cloves, cinnamon, oregano, tumeric and cocoa powder. So chocolate REALLY is up there!
[caption id="attachment_3559" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=""Top Foods in ORAC Value""][/caption]
When ranked by typical serving, a square of unsweetened baking chocolate knocked cloves out of the number one spot (since you wouldn't typically eat 100g of cloves,) followed ...

‘What’s in the Fridge’ Raw Nori Roll

I was looking in my fridge, trying to decide what to make. Cauliflower, mixed greens, sprouts, avocado...yay, raw nori roll!! So I took out my mini food processor and started tossing things in. This recipe makes one roll. The specs aren't too exact, so experiment with what you have - you just can't go wrong. ;)
Raw Nori Roll for One
[caption id="attachment_3356" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=""Raw Sushi Roll for One""][/caption]
Cauliflower "Rice"
half a head of cauliflower
2 diced spring onions
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp tamari sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
1) Pulse cauliflower until rice-like.
2) Add the rest of ingredients and pulse again until combined.
3) Taste ...

Blender Mayo-amazing!

I avoided mayonnaise for the looongest time because I, like millions of Americans fell for the nationwide “fat is bad for you” hoopla pushed by the USDA for decades. Then when I went raw vegan, mayo was definitely a no-no and creaminess was replaced with nuts and avocado.
But since reading more and more about nutrition, the work of Weston Price and even some raw food advocates like Dr. Mercola and Dr. Stanley Bass who recommend raw eggs, I’m finding creative ways to add them to my diet and mayo fits the bill nicely!
So Why Raw Eggs?
"Eggs supply all essential amino ...

Food Review: Askinosie Chocolate

I like to think of myself as somewhat of a chocolat connoisseur. For the longest time, I didn't indulge because I had really bad acne and chocolate aggravated it. It wasn't until years later that I found out that it wasn't the "chocolate" cacao bean itself, it was all the crap other unrecognizable ingredients that went into a typical SAD chocolate bar. After I went high raw and discovered raw cacao, wow! - not only could I eat it, but now it was good for me (in moderation, of course. ;))
Since then I've expanded my repertoire to include high quality ...

Roasted Garlic Goodness

When I last fired up my oven to make a batch of roasted veggies, I decided to try out my new (used) garlic roaster that I got for free. (Thank you Freecycle!) The garlic came out awesome! I mixed some of the garlic paste with my roasted cauliflower instead of roasting crushed garlic WITH the cauliflower. Much better!
After squeezing a few cloves directly into my mouth - YUM! - I put what was left of the bulb into a little jar to use with other dishes. (I probably walk around reeking like a big old garlic clove and I don't ...

EcoFriendly Glass Drinking Straws

I just got a new glass straw from Glass Dharma. Love it! :) I chose the 8" smoothie size with green decorative dots. The dots are key, so it doesn't roll off the counter and break. The diameter is a roomy 12mm - perfect for my thick smoothies and elixirs. There are several other drinking straw styles, sizes and colors to chose from.
I also got the stainless steel cleaning brush. The brush is tres important. My first glass straw got a bit cloudy after use because it's narrower and I didn't have a good way to clean it well. But ...

Raw Dark Chocolate Walnut Bark Recipe

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to post a little reminder that the Valentine's Day Coconut Giveaway ends tomorrow at 11:59pm. A winner will be drawn via random.org. As I write this, there are only 44 entries so there's a very good chance of winning. And the more you enter, the better your odds!
Here is a Valentine's Day recipe that you can make with your coconut oil windfall - Raw Walnut Chocolate Bark. The lucuma powder and stevia sweeteners make it low glycemic. The maca powder adds a malty flavor. Maca is an adaptogen, which means it has the ability to balance ...

Feb 2010: Virgin Coconut Oil Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS OVER. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING. CHECK THE SIDEBAR FOR THE CURRENT GIVEAWAY. Quality coconut oil really does make a difference in food prep. I made a favorite quick dish yesterday - pan seared scallops with arugula sauteed in garlic and coconut oil (picture above) and it came out fabulous!
So if you've been following my blog, you know that I decided to review four organic coconut oils. Tropical Traditions ranked the highest overall. To be honest with you, I have tasted some premium coconut oils nearly as good as Tropical Traditions, but what gave them the edge is ...

Raw Christmas Canapes in July

I just made these little raw canapes last weekend for friends. They were really yummy and cute. Rolling them up and tying them with the chive without tearing it - tricky! I had a few casualties which I had to sacrifice and eat ;) but after the first couple, I had an assembly line going. I think soaking the chives in water helps make it more pliable.
[caption id="attachment_1834" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Raw Amuse Bouche"][/caption]
The recipe is called "Rolled Courgette Ribbons with Sweet Beet Paté" from Russell James Christmas Recipe E-book. I omitted the beetroot juice and agave because I'm trying to ...

Melty Chocolate Chunk Walnut unCookie

Sundays + rain = time to do some unbaking! I was itching for a sweet treat but too lazy to go out, so I started scavenging the cupboards. Cacao, lucuma, almond butter, walnuts, maca - all the makings of a quick yum pot, but I wanted MORE. Something special. A really raw decadent chocolate chip cookie! So I started rifling through my recipes and came across an all-time sure-fire winner - the infamous chocolate chunk walnut cookie from Sweet Gratitude. They came out AMAZING!
Now this ain't one of your lickity-split, easy peasy raw recipes. It takes time and a whole ...

Adventures Across Oz – Part 1

Yep I did it. Crossed the continent of Australia from West to East Coast. On the "wrong" side of the road no less. lol.
It was easier than I thought. The Nullarbor Plain was the most challenging part - just looooong stretches of desert with a roadhouse every 200k's or so. Luckily some very bored people have created man-made "landmarks" to keep you entertained - like the sneaker tree, the water bottle tree, the shoe tree and yes, the underwear tree.
There are wild camels, dingos, wombats and of course, the ever present Aussie kangaroos, living on the Nullarbor. Was hoping to ...

Balinese Medicine Man

by lilla on May 20, 2009

“Met a real Balinese medicine man. The kind of medicine man that comes from a long lineage of healers. The kind who never turns anyone away. The kind who does not charge for his services. The kind whose energy work you FEEL physically and not just imagine or wish you did. The kind in which it is almost sacrilegious to talk about and selfish not to. I was blessed by a great man today – a day I will never forget.”

Never ceases to amaze me how things line up to lead you along your path. I few days ago, I was rifling through a Balinese magazine and saw a little postage stamp of an article about Balinese medicine men. It spoke of how tourists are “swindled” by so-called healers and that true medicine men do not charge for their time or turn anyone away lest they lose their healing powers. It went on to mention two healers, one near Ubud. Feeling brave, I jotted down the information and hastily emailed my Bali driver friend if he knew where the Ubud medicine man was and if he could take me and be my translator if necessary.

The next day, I don’t remember how, it came to my attention that the author of the best-selling book “Eat, Pray, Love” had come to Bali to study with a Balinese medicine man near Ubud and as fate should have it, I spotted a copy of the book at the lending library at Ubud Sari. I re-read the final chapters on her Bali experience and took down the name of the Balinese healer. It was a different man and I thought, why not meet him too? When in Bali, do as the Balinesian, right?

The following day among all the Bali distractions, my desire to see the Balinese healers waned and I decided instead that I wanted to go to a hot spring that I heard about, off the beaten tourist path. But late that evening when I checked my email, my driver had replied stating that he would be picking me up the next morning at 8am to meet the medicine men. All of a sudden I was scared and intimated to meet them. What should I bring as an offering? What was I going to say? What were they going to do to me?

Next morning, my driver arrives and I told him I didn’t have an offering. He said we would get one. I told him, I don’t know how much to donate. He told me how much. I told him I was scared and he said don’t be. After shooting down all my arguments, I resigned to the plan.

First we went to the hot spring pool because I needed time to think. It was gorgeous and peaceful. I had the whole place practically to myself as I don’t think many people know about this one. The water is not super hot like “Eden Springs scorching,” but pleasantly hot. I lounged around in the cold and hot water pool for an hour.

The Mother Spring

Then we drove to the first healer. There were five people in his courtyard waiting for his teachings. As soon as he came out, I must have stuck out because he asked my driver in Balinese what I was doing here. He didn’t sigh out loud, but I got the feeling that I was intruding. He called me up front and asked me why I came to see him. With everyone watching and within earshot, I spoke to him. He asked me to sit in front of him where he proceeded to touch trigger points on my head, face and shoulders. He found a point on my face and asked me if I felt pain there and it was like a vibrating electrical shock! An unbelievable sensation. Then he asked me to lie down and he pressed more points specifically on my feet… “heart good, liver good, lungs good, gallbladder good…” then the searing pain! He hit a spot that made me laugh out loud to deal with the pain. Once he found that one, he followed it up my leg and touched another one on my outer thigh and one on my rib cage that had me doubling over. And all I could do was laugh and feel the tears of pain welling up in my eyes. He kept working on me, allowing me to rest when the pain was too much and then he leaned over and whispered to me “bad memory, I can not fix. You must fix.” Then he proceeded to “guess” what the memory was and his words hit home and made me finally break out in a sob with 12 strange eyes watching me, but I couldn’t care less. He started to prepare some medicine while I recovered. Then he asked me to lie down again and he stood on my feet and said an incantation. It was just so incredible I can’t describe in words, so I’ll stop here.

We left and I collected myself as we drove to the second healer, Ketut Liyer, the one mentioned in “Eat, Pray, Love.” As we pulled up, I almost changed my mind because I was still in a daze and emotionally spent. But when we arrived, someone came to the door to greet us, so I figured I would just do the palm reading…(to be continued.)

I love the story and can't wait to read the rest. It is my 30th birthday in October and I've been trying to decide what to do to celebrate. I have been thinking about Bali for sometime- but I think it may be time.

KaliLilla

Bali is wonderful! You will love it!! I may be back in October toocoincidentally.

Lynda

Hurry hurry and tell us more. LUV all you are telling us and am so intrigued. What luck you fell into…or was it the LOA? when he hit those pressure points, did it mean you had something bad when it was pain? Did he tell you how to fix them and what they meant? You are now going to be in perfect health and are going to win the RTP. I can feel it in my non-healer bones! Take care. Tell all.Lynda

Debbie

Hi Lilla,

I am in awe of this post and the gentleman you mention. You are having such a wonderful time. Wish I could be there with you!

Debbie

KaliLilla

He was really the real deal medicine man. I want to go back but am intimated by his presence. Trying to muster up the courage.

KaliLilla

If you ever have a chance to come to Bali, do it!

Pamela

Hi, I'm going to Ubud next week and am hoping to meet a medicine man (other than Ketut!) I'd really appreciate it if you could email me the name and address of the 1st healer you met. My email add is aiyuan@gmail.com. Thanks!

http://www.ahcacao.com/ Rohan

Thanks for sharing this great story and such fantastic photos of bali – your effort is much appreciated!

KaliLilla

Thanks Rohan! That means a lot to me. Sometimes I wonder if anyonereads my blog. LOL. So nice to get comments. I would love to post more right now too, but I'm in Lombok and theinternet is incredibly unbelieveably SLOW.

shada

Hi,

I am also going to UBUD NEXT WEEK in search of the medicine man. Please email me his details and the contact details of the driver. I am told that soem drivers can rip you off. I will be going wiht my daughter 13 years old. I thank you an dsend blessings to all. My email address is : shada.francis@gmail.com

KaliLilla

Hi There!His name is Cok Rai and phone number 62 361 294 565. Not sure of the address- my driver Nyoman took me. Nyoman's mobile phone is 0818 0550 4022 andemail nyomankada@hotmail.com. If you call Nyoman tell him that Lilla sentyou.

And please email me and lmk how it went! Would love to hear about yourexperience.

sue

would you be open to sharing the first medicine man's name?

k

hiim a homeopath and have been looking to go to bali and meet medicine people can you give me the name off your first medicine man and also recommend a good guide please and any other tips.thankskemail kevans-alder@bigpond.com

KaliLilla

His name is Cok Rai, near Ubud.

Martina

Dear LillaI read your story about the medicine man in Bali and wow… I was so touched and impressed!I am going to Ubud from 14-19 March for a yoga retreat and would love to visit “your” medicine man… but to be honest, I feel kind of shy. Is it ok, to just drop by? Or did you arrange for an appointment upfront? Shall I just call the driver Nyoman and ask him to arrange?Wow, I'm so excited…Best wishes from ZurichMartina

http://www.HealthySimpleLiving.com/ Kali Lilla

Hi Martina!Honestly, it was a bit intimidating. My driver insisted that it was ok tostop by, but I think I interrupted a class he was about to lead to take“care” of me. If I were to go again, I would either call him to make an apptor stop by to make an appt and then come back at the agreed upon time. He isDEFINITELY worth seeing though!! So please don't miss out. I would love tohear how it goes, so if you have a chance, please drop a comment again whenyou return.

p.s. I asked Nyoman to arrange an appt but I don't think he ever did – Hejust took me there. So it might be best if you call to make the appt. Hespeaks English quite well.

Martina

Thank you so much, Lilla! I will definitely let you know who it went!

Robbie

Hi Lilla,

Is it recommended to get a driver while touring Bali?

C.22

hello Lilla, i hope your visit with ketut went well. I am flying out to bali in october and looking forward to meeting the medicine man mentioned in the movie also. I hope my visit also goes well.